Stage and Live Production

Tools in this group

• Truss Point Load and Span Capacity - UDL capacity from manufacturer curves; reactions, equivalent-UDL safety factor, pass/fail.
• Audio Speaker Time Alignment - Required delay-tower delay (ms) from speed-of-sound formula; Haas-window offset.
• DMX-512 Address and Universe Planner - Per-fixture channel ranges, universe utilization, conflict and overflow detection.
• Three-Phase Neutral Imbalance and Distro - Neutral current estimate, imbalance percent, harmonic-load warning.
• SPL and Inverse Square Law - L2 = L1 - 20 log10(d2/d1) with free-field / hemispherical / indoor mode adjustment.
• Rigging Capacity Quick Check - WLL at angle for shackles / slings / span sets / hoists with safety factor and pass/fail.
• SPL with Atmospheric Absorption (ANSI S1.26) - Far-field SPL with per-octave-band atmospheric absorption (alpha dB/m) per ANSI S1.26-2014 (R2019). Octave breakdown 125 Hz to 8 kHz; companion to the v1 spl-distance tile (inverse-square only).
• Power Distro Per-Leg Loading - Current per leg, percent of service rating, headroom, and a pass/fail against the 80% continuous limit for stage/event temporary power, 1-phase or 3-phase.
• Speaker Impedance Network - Series and parallel network impedance with an amplifier minimum-load safety check.
• Decibel Converter - Power, voltage, and reference-level decibel conversions plus incoherent source summation.
• Amplifier Power to SPL - SPL at the listener from sensitivity, power, and distance, with headroom and inverse power.
• Stage Lighting Beam and Throw - Theatrical fixture photometry: beam (pool) diameter at a throw distance (2 x throw x tan(beam angle / 2)) and center-beam illuminance by the inverse-square law (E = candela / distance^2, or candela estimated from lumens + beam angle), in footcandles and lux (first-principles point-source photometry, distinct from the architectural lumen-method average).
• Throw Distance for a Target Beam Pool - The inverse of the lighting-beam tile: the throw distance a fixture needs to cast a target beam (pool) diameter, throw = D / (2 x tan(beam angle / 2)). A 20 degree fixture makes a 10.6 ft pool from a 30 ft throw; a wider 40 degree beam reaches the same pool from just 14.5 ft. Answers 'how far to hang it for an X-foot pool' instead of the pool at one throw. Geometry only - the illuminance still falls with the square of the throw (check the level with lighting-beam). The fixture cut sheet governs.
• Winch Drum Fleet Angle - The sideways angle a wire rope makes running from a fixed lead sheave onto a winch drum: fleet_angle = atan(lateral_offset / lead_distance), where the offset is the sideways distance from the sheave's groove plane to where the rope lands (largest at the drum ends) and the lead is the perpendicular drum-to-sheave distance. A 6 in offset over a 240 in lead is atan(0.025) = 1.43 deg -- inside the guideline. The Wire Rope Users Manual / ANSI E1.6 guideline keeps it at or below 1.5 deg (grooved) / 2 deg (smooth); too large and the rope crushes earlier wraps or climbs the flange, too small (under ~0.5 deg) and it piles up. Lengthening the lead or centering the sheave lowers the angle. A design guideline; the equipment manufacturer governs.
• LED Video Wall Build - Total resolution, physical size, cabinet count, weight, and average and peak power of an LED video wall from a cabinet's native pixel count and pitch and the layout, plus the minimum comfortable viewing distance.
• Projector Brightness and Throw - The projector lumens a screen needs from its size, gain, and target foot-lamberts, with the throw distance from the throw ratio. The projection analog of lighting-beam's fixture photometry.
• Max Screen Size for a Projector - The inverse of the projector-brightness tile: the largest screen a projector lights to a target brightness, max area = lumens x gain / target foot-lamberts, then the width, height, and diagonal at the aspect ratio. A 5,000-lumen projector on a unity-gain screen at 16 fL tops out near a 27 ft (16:9) diagonal; a lit room at 30-50 fL shrinks it. Size the projector 20-30% over the minimum for lamp aging. Sizes the screen from the brightness budget, not the throw geometry; the room and the projector's lens range govern.
• Room Acoustics: RT60 and Axial Modes - Reverberation time from the Sabine equation (0.049 x volume / total sabins) plus the three first axial room modes c/(2 x dimension) that predict bass buildup and nulls. The room half of the live-production acoustics math, alongside spl-distance and spl-atmospheric.
• Absorption Needed for a Target RT60 - The inverse of the room-acoustics tile: the total absorption a room needs to hit a target RT60, A_required = 0.049 x volume / RT60_target sabins, plus the additional treatment to add over the room's current absorption. A 5,000 ft^3 room targeting 0.6 s RT60 needs 408 sabins; with 250 sabins already, add 158 sabins of treatment (about 200 ft^2 of a panel at coefficient 0.8). Sizes the absorption, not the axial modes (geometry sets those). The acoustician and the venue govern.
• Distance for a Target SPL - The inverse of the spl-distance tile: the distance at which the sound pressure level falls to a target, d2 = d1 x 10^((L1 + mode_factor + 10 log10(N) - L2) / 20). A 110 dB source at 1 ft drops to 84 dB at about 20 ft in free field (every doubling of distance loses 6 dB). Answers 'how far to the hearing-safe or spill line' instead of the level at one spot. Includes the mode adjustment and N incoherent sources; a target above the source level is flagged. A planning estimate; the room and the measurement govern.
• Counterweight Fly System Balance - Required arbor counterweight, out-of-weight amount, and bricks to add or remove to balance a batten (required = (batten + load) x purchase_ratio). A double-purchase arbor needs twice the counterweight; an out-of-weight batten is the classic fly-rail hazard.
• LED Tape PSU and Voltage-Drop Run - Total load, recommended PSU size, and end-of-run voltage of a constant-voltage LED strip, with a too-long flag when the far end dims. Oversizing the PSU does not fix the drop -- power-inject or feed both ends; 24 V tape reaches roughly double a 12 V run.
• LED Tape Max Run Before the Far End Dims - The inverse of the led-tape-run tile: the longest single end-fed run before the far end dims past your drop tolerance, len_max = voltage x sqrt(2 x (tolerance/100) / (power_per_ft x resistance_per_ft)). A 4.4 W/ft 12 V strip at 0.05 ohm/ft walls out at about 11.4 ft for a 10% drop; a 24 V strip reaches roughly double (the run scales with the voltage). Answers 'how far can I run this tape' instead of checking one length. Oversizing the PSU does not extend it -- power-inject or feed both ends. The strip datasheet governs.